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Windows 7 Kill Switch For IE Confirmed — For More Apps, Too

Posted by timothy on from the for-just-a-few-dollars-more dept.

CWmike writes "Microsoft has confirmed that users will be able to remove its IE8 browser, as well as several other integrated applications, from Windows 7. Jack Mayo, a group program manager on the Windows team, listed in a blog post the applications that can be switched off. They include Internet Explorer 8, Fax and Scan, handwriting recognition, Windows DVD Maker, Windows Gadget Platform, Windows Media Player, Windows Media Center, Windows Search, and XPS Viewer and Services. He explained that the files associated with those applications and features are not actually deleted from the hard drive. The public beta of Windows 7 does not include the ability to 'kill' said apps. But a pirated copy of Windows 7 Build 7048 includes the new removal options, and has been leaked on the Internet." (We mentioned the reported ability to turn off IE8 yesterday as well.)

3 of 208 comments (clear)

  1. Why not? by John+Hasler · · Score: 4, Interesting

    > He explained that the files associated with those applications and features are not
    > actually deleted from the hard drive.

    Why not?

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    Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
    1. Re:Why not? by qoncept · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The article also mentions they can be reinstalled/reenabled without the installation disk. My guess is that genuinely is the reason. I remember Windows 95 randomly asking me to insert the installation disc when I was updating drivers or installing non-MS software, which was ridiculous.

      Of course, its also possible the libraries are still being used (and loaded, and still eating up resources) for other things.

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      Whale
    2. Re:Why not? by Captain+Spam · · Score: 5, Interesting

      The only alternative here is for Mozilla or another OS browser to reimplement mshtml.dll from scratch - a daunting task of questionable logic.

      "Daunting" puts it lightly, apparently. WINE, for instance, attempts to reimplement mshtml.dll via the Gecko engine for all the things that use it for HTML rendering. Like, say, Steam. To date, I still don't think it's possible to complete a purchase or demo download from start to finish entirely within the Steam client under WINE/Crossover. You still need to start the purchase externally, enter Steam, and finish it there because they haven't fully reimplemented all the calls properly.

      So, yes, it has been tried, and it isn't quite perfect yet.

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